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Sunday, 29 April 2012

A
Playful Day is kindly sponsored by Superknits, the home of super yarns for super knits. Please show your support
for our playful friend by clicking on the link above- go on, spoil
yourself!!!.

A
Playful Day is also kindly sponsored by NorthboundKnitting,
uniquely hand dyed yarn, spinning fibre and modern knitting designs.
Please show your support for our playful friend by clicking on
the link above.

A Playful Day is proudly sponsored by Candy Skein, hand dyed yarns sweet enough to eat! Please support our playful friend by supporting the banner above.

Friday, 27 April 2012

As a writer and editor I have a lot of time for others in the profession so this month's 12 Women in 12tells a story of someone whose work I can really get behind. Shannon Okey is the founder of Cooperative Press, a publishing house with an impressive vision. I caught up with Shannon this month to find out how Cooperative Press came to be and why it is that it has gathered so much respect and support from crafters, writers and designers.

(c), Shannon Oakey

Shannon loves to write, and is passionate about books. Shannon herself has published 12 books as well her recent titleThe KnitGrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design (with Cooperative Press) and has vast experience in the knitting and publishing industry. Her first 12 books were produced with large publishers before she decided to start her own company. Shannon admits that it was driven by the fact that she didn't like how slowly the
industry was responding to the amazing change that's been happening and wanted to see a
better system for creators to create, control and promote their work
that would ensure better compensation and also more flexibility. Shannon understands what matters to designers having published herself and her fiery commitment to delivering new books to an audience is evident. My favourite quote of the interview is her statement about deciding to start a publishing house:

"It
absolutely made my head explode when I had to argue that publishing
digital editions would be a good idea, or that promoting my books on
Ravelry was a must. You get tired of fighting after a while, it's
actually easier to make your own way."

(c) Cooperative Press

The idea of it being easier to create your own publishing house is quite a statement but is typical of Shannon. I have adored the vision of Cooperative press from day one: to publish quality work, and to make sure that
authors and contributors are fairly compensated for their work at a rate
that is better than the industry standard. It means that contributions are respected as craft and business ideas and opens the door for ideas that perhaps wouldn't get off the ground with a large publishing house. The statement emblazoned on the Cooperative Press website reads:

"5,000 or 50,000. Does the book matter to that 5,000? Then it should be published".

I love that. It means ideas are not marketing strategies but celebrations of talents and a community that is nurturing them.

The other impressive thing about Shannon is that she seems to attract talent around her that are happy to support one another. There's no diva like hogging of the spotlight and everyone's talent is evident in their publications. When I asked Shannon how this came about she was clear, "I pay fairly and on-time. I'm flexible. My authors all seem to like
each other and want to be involved with each other's upcoming projects.
We're a real team here". There are lots of lessons to be learned here about good business practice.

So what advice does Shannon give those wishing to follow in her footsteps?

Be organized.

Be professional.

Take responsibility.

Be kind.

If you don't love what you're doing, stop- everyone can tell if
you're just phoning it in (all the more so these days with the
interconnectedness of social media)!

A
huge thank you to Shannon, her staff and her writers and designers who are so inspiring in their innovation and commitment to craft.

Stay
tuned for more 12 women in 12 and please do join in to show your
appreciation for great business stories by
either tweeting along on twitter (#12womenin12) or sharing your
feelings on your own blog. Be sure to let me know/ link us in, I'd
love to know what you think!

Wednesday, 25 April 2012

After a little wrangling with my conscience I decided not to take part in the fabulous Blog Week this time around. I'm struggling with deadlines and lack of inspiration and while I was hoping to feel zipped up by it I found myself staring at an empty page shouting 'COLOUR!' or 'HERO!' (these were the topic themes not just wild words from a wild woman).

So I was really pleased when a listener got in touch to ask for my help over Blog Week. "Of course I'll help. What do you need?"

Thursday, 19 April 2012

One of the things that I've been doing while funk busting is editing photos and I realised I could share some of my West Coast pics here. Silly me.

So here's the first installment. Just a few random pictures that make me wildly happy as I think about being with friends and in that beautiful location. You will notice a certain theme as these go up....

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

I want you to understand that it's not that I don't love you any more but it's just that I've been doing lots of writing in other new and exciting places and I just haven't had the inspiration to blog for a few weeks now. It's hard when I'm not cooking or knitting as much and it's harder still when I have barely touched my camera. I promise I haven't been unfaithful and there are no other blogs I have been flirting with.

Sunday, 15 April 2012

A
Playful Day is kindly sponsored by Superknits, the home of super yarns for super knits. Please show your support
for our playful friend by clicking on the link above- go on, spoil
yourself!!!.

A
Playful Day is also kindly sponsored by NorthboundKnitting,
uniquely hand dyed yarn, spinning fibre and modern knitting designs.
Please show your support for our playful friend by clicking on
the link above.

A Playful Day is proudly sponsored by Candy Skein, hand dyed yarns sweet enough to eat! Please support our playful friend by supporting the banner above.

Sunday, 8 April 2012

Well I couldn't let it slide by without a little celebration now could I?

In the interests of saving my wrists during this giveaway bonanza, there is a pod-i-versary giveaway thread in the Aplayfulday Ravelry Group for you to enter this giveaway. Please leave ONE comment and say something that you have really enjoyed about the podcast or blog or what you would like to see more of so I can get lots of fun ideas about the year ahead. However, there may be opportunities for extra entries so keep an eye on Twitter, this here blog and the announcements thread in the group. I'm going to be sneaky and playful because that's what I do.

Remember to enter via the thread on the group and please say whether you are a spinner or not in case you win the fibre (also, any allergies)! The giveaway will run until 30th April 2012 and winners will be announced via the blog in May afbter being selected by the Random Number Generator.

Saturday, 7 April 2012

I love picnics and the warmer weather always has me looking for baked treats that I can throw in a tupperware in my bag, along with a blanket and head to the park for my lunch break. While I tend not to eat too much meat, I am partial to the occasional sausage roll and I love making them- super easy and delicious straight from the oven.

You will need:

1 tbsp butter

A shallot, finely diced

A healthy splash of Worcestershire sauce

A healthy splash of Tabasco sauce

Approx 4 sausages, split from skins or the equivalent amount of sausage meat

450g/1lb ready-rolled puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

To make:

1. Remove puff pastry from fridge about 20mins before planned cooking time to warm slightly then roll this out first to allow it to 'sit' while you get everything else ready. I aim for about 1/2 cm thick but don't be too fussy, wobbly rolls are charming.

2. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and grease a couple of trays.

3. Place butter in small pan and once melted, lightly saute shallots till they are soft and translucent.

Thursday, 5 April 2012

... I have never supported the Conservative party. They're policies just do not work for families, schools or care systems and therefore women.There was strong opposition to Margaret Thatcher who was famously dubbed more man than woman but our current government are much more viscious because they do it a smile and rhetoric that says they care about families and women. I've had the creeping feeling for some time that they have been implementing changes that directly effect the opportunities of women (and disadvantaged groups) and failing to see any coverage or questions being asked.

I've been told blogging and a podcast have no place to be talking politics. I disagree. I am a community member (in so many ways) and I am a woman and I read something that finally made me feel I wasn't alone in this: someone else, someone more visible than me, can see it too. I do not want to watch options for women disappear so I urge you to read this fantastic piece from The New Economic Foundation and think about how many women in your lives are changing their options to make up for the state deficit.

(Normal service will resume with a recipe for Easter. I just had to share a fantastic bit of writing when I saw it).

Monday, 2 April 2012

Well it's been a year since I started my podcast and things went much better than I expected- I stuck to a regular schedule for a whole year, even managed bonus episodes and have had so much fun and met so many wonderful people.

When I found myself unemployed last year after months of on/off work, I toyed with the idea of ending the podcast. I simply didn't have the energy with job hunting and as for money? Yes, well..... I saved my podcasting bacon by taking on wonderful sponsors who compliment each other and the podcast/ blog and that's helped me cover costs for attending events that I couldn't otherwise afford, travel costs to events and interviews, hosting fees and postage and packaging of prizes.

Now that I'm self employed, not much has changed as I still rely on the podcast being completely self funded. There really is little slack in those early months of freelance. However, with lots of giveaways, events etc the kitty is getting low so once a year, for the podcast anniversary I'm going to run a month long donation incentive to boost the kitty back up. I'm doing that by offering expensive to ship prizes that I've been holding on to until I had enough funds to post them out internationally rather than limit who could enter the contests by excluding international shipping. I want to continue to share lots of prizes but prizes do actually drain the kitty fast!

So for the month of April, if you donate, you will be entered to win 1 of 3 books: Textured Stitches (reviewed in Episode 25), Knit so Fine (featured in this blog post) and Knitted Lace (reviewed inEpisode 27). There is no minimum spend, no maximum spend and if you're feeling particularly generous, no limit to the number of times you can donate. It's as simple as, if you are in the position to help fund some fun over the coming year, please do click on the donate button. If you're not, please do not worry...... there's a huge giveaway due for announcement next episode...... ;)

Sunday, 1 April 2012

A
Playful Day is kindly sponsored by Superknits, the home of super yarns for super knits. Please show your support
for our playful friend by clicking on the link above- go on, spoil
yourself!!!.

A
Playful Day is also kindly sponsored by NorthboundKnitting,
uniquely hand dyed yarn, spinning fibre and modern knitting designs.
Please show your support for our playful friend by clicking on
the link above.

A Playful Day is proudly sponsored by Candy Skein, hand dyed yarns sweet enough to eat! Please support our playful friend by supporting the banner above.